Apparatus for drilling holes in balls



1967 P.J. HACKBARTH ETAL 3,303,727

APPARATUS FOR DRILLING HOLES IN BALLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 29, 1964 2204 c/ 6544x5497 r/ACOB 5 Dory gm m @M TTORNEYS 1967 P.J. HACKBARTH ETAL 3,303,727

APPARATUS FOR DRILLING HOLES IN BALLS Filed Sept. 29, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I i -.50 72 74 I?! Iilll 1 V INVENTORS 1944/4 fi m 5 467 1967 RJ. HACKBARTH ETAL 3,303,727

APPARATUS FOR DRILLING HOLES IN BALLS s Shets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 29, 1964 I NVEN TORS 104 z/ Aha 5,457

c/Acoa 5. Dory United States Patent G 3,303,727 APPARATUS FOR DRILLING HOLES IN BALLS Paul J. Hackharth and Jacob S. Doty, both of Middletown, Ohio, assignors to Hoover Ball and Bearing Company, Saline, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Sept. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 400,089 7 Claims. (Cl. 77-21) This invention relates generally to automatic drilling apparatus and more particularly to improved apparatus for forming holes in balls.

Balls with holes or passages formed therein are becoming widely used, for example, as fiuid directing members and the like. Simple apparatus which is operable automatically to form holes of predetermined configuration and at predetermined locations in balls is, therefore, desirable. It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide improved apparatus for drilling holes in balls which avoids the formation of surface burrs on the balls incident to breakthrough of a drill, is operable to form through holes, T-shape holes, etc., and is adaptable to the formation of various hole configurations and designs.

A further object of this invention is to provide improved apparatus for drilling holes in balls which includes improved ball feeding and positioning mechanism for automatically feeding balls one by one to a predetermine-d position for drilling, and drill apparatus which is positioned relative to the clamping mechanism for antonratically drilling a predetermined hole formation in the ball.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the improved apparatus of this invention for forming holes in balls;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view-of the apparatus of this invention looking substantially along the line 22 in FIG. 1, and illustrating the ball feeding and positioning mechanism in a ball positioning location;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view, illustrated similarly to FIG. 2, showing the ball feeding and positioning mechanism in a ball feeding position;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view of the apparatus of this invention looking substantially along the line 44 in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the apparatus of this invention looking substantially along the line 55 in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of a portion of the apparatus of this invention;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the apparatus of this invention looking along the line 77 in FIG. 5;

FIGURE 8 is a view of a portion of the apparatus of this invention as seen from substantially the line 8-8 in FIG. 6; and

FIGURE 9 is a plan view illustrated similarly to FIG. 1, of the apparatus of this invention modified slightly to achieve a different hole formation in balls.

With reference to the drawing, the improved hole forming apparatus of this invention, indicated generally at 10', is illustrated in FIG. 1 as including a body 12 on which a ball feeding plate 14 is slidably mounted for substantially horizontal reciprocal movement. A drill 16, carried by a horizontally reciprocatable head 18 is positioned on one side of the body 12, and a similar drill 20, which is positioned so that it is in axial alignment with the drill 16, is mounted on a horizontally reciprocatable head 22 positioned on the other side of the body 12. A third drill 24, illustrated as being positioned ice so that it is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the aligned drills 16 and 20 is positioned on a third side of the body 1.2, and is mounted in a horizontally reciprocatable head 26. A clamp member 28, attached to the piston rod 30 for a fluid actuated cylinder assembly 32 is mounted on a fourth side of the body 12 so that it is reciprocatable in a generally horizontal direction toward and away from the drill 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, the body 12 has a base 34 and is formed with an upright passage 36 of a progressively increasing diameter in a downward direction. The body 12 has a top surface 38, and the passage 36 has an inlet end 39 at the surface 38 and a discharge end 40 adapted to communicate with any suitable receptacle or conveyor conduit such as the conduit indicated at 42. The slide member 14 forms an integral part of a member 44 which is hereinafter referred to as a frame. The frame 44 is connected to the piston rod 46 for a fluid actuated cylinder assembly 48 which is operable to reciprocate the piston rod 46, and thus the frame 44, in a generally horizontal direction. During such reciprocation, the slide plate 14 slides on the top surface 38 of the body 12. A block 50, secured to the surface 38, such as by bolts 52, is formed with a groove 54 which cooperates with the top surface 38 to form a horizontal guideway in which the slide plate 14 is confined for telescoping sliding movement.

A generally horizontal ball supporting and positioning member 56 is secured to the frame 44 so that it will reciprocate concurrently with the slide plate 14. The ball supporting member 56 extends through an opening 58 formed in the body 12 so that it extends transversely of passage 36. A hearing 60 carried by the body 12 slidably supports member 56 for horizontal reciprocal movement. In one position, the ball supporting member 56 extends into the passage 36 (FIG. 2) so as to intercept a ball falling downwardly therein. In another position (FIG. 3) the ball supporting member is positioned to one side of the passage 36 for releasing a ball previously supported thereon for downward movement out the dis charge end 40 of the passage 36.

As shown in FIG. 2, the slide plate 14 is formed with an upright opening 62 which is provided at its upper end with an outwardly flared beveled portion 64. During movement of the frame 44 to move the ball supporting member 56 between the ball positioning and ball feeding positions illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, the slide 14 is moved between a position (FIG. 2) in which it is aligned with the inlet end 39 of the passage 36, and a position (FIG. 3) to one side of the passage 36. In this latter position of the opening 62, it is positioned below and substantially in vertical alignment with a ball feeding tube 66 which is mounted on and extends upwardly from the block 50 so as to communicate with an opening 68 which extends through the block 50. p

The tube 66 contains a stack of balls 70 of a predetermined diameter relative to the thickness of the slide plate 14, which, as shown in FIG. 3 is of a thickness greater than the diameter of a ball 70 but less than one and a half times the diameter of a ball 70. As a result, when the slide plate 14 is positioned as shown in FIG. 3, the lowermost ball 70 in the stack of balls in the tube 66 can drop into the opening 62 to a position supported on the top surface 38 of the body 12. On movement of the slide plate 14 from its position shown in FIG. 3 to its position shown in FIG. 2, the next adjacent ball 70 is prevented from dropping into the opening 62, because there falls downwardly in the passage 36 until it is intercepted by the ball supporting member 56, which is then in the position shown in FIG. 2. The portion of the passage 36 which is above and adjacent to the ball supporting member 56 is only slightly larger than the diameter of the ball 70. As a result, a ball supported in the passage 36 on the ball supporting member 56 is confined in a very accurately located position.

In this position of a ball 70 (FIGS. 2 and 4) it is disposed between a fixed clamp member 72 (FIG. 4) and the slidable clamp member 23. The fixed clamp member 72 is adjustably mounted on the body 12, so that it projects transversely into passage 36, by means of a removable plate 76 having an internally threaded opening 74 in which a threaded portion 75 of clamp member 72 is mounted. A lock nut 77 holds member 72 in an adjusted position on body 12. Fixed clamp member 72 is provided with an axial passage 78, for a purpose to appear presently. The movable clamp member 28 is slidably supported in a bearing 80 carried by the body 12 for substantially horizontal movement through a transverse passage 82 formed in the body 12 at a position in substantial horizontal alignment with the fixed clamped member 72. A concave working end surface 86 on clamp member 28 is movable into engagement with one side of a ball 70 positioned on the ball supporting member 56 so as to force the opposite side of the ball 70 into clamping engagement with the concave inner end 84 of the clamp member 72.

As shown in FIG. 4, the head 26 for the drill 24 is,

positioned so that the drill 24 is axially aligned with and telescopically positioned within the passage 78 in the fixed clamp member 72. As a result, drill 24 is movable axially of the passage 78 into drilling engagement with a ball 70 held between the clamp members 72 and 28.

A pair of bushings 88 and 90 are mounted on the body 12 at positions between the clamp members 72 and 28. Each of the bushings 88 and 90 constitutes a drill guide bushing and is positioned in alignment with the drills 16 and 20 which are located so that they are axially aligned with a ball '70 clamped between the clamp members 72 and 28. Accordingly, the drills 16 and 20 are movable toward each other into drilling engagement with a ball 70 so as to drill a hole 92 in the ball 70 which extends through the ball and is located approximately on a diameter of the ball 70. In operation, the drills 16 and 20 are advanced into drilling engagement with the ball 70 from diametrically opposite sides thereof until the drills nearly meet in substantially the center of the ball 70. One of the drills 16 or 20 is then retracted and the other drill 16 or 20 is continued along its path to complete the formation of the through hole 92. This procedure eliminates any breakthrough of a drill from the interior of a ball 70 through the outer surface, with the resultant forming of burrs and rough edges. The drills 16 and 20 are then retractedinto the bushings 88 and 90, and the drill 24, which is located on an axis at substantially right angles to the axis of the drills 16 and 20, can be moved into the ball 70 held between the clamp members 72 and 23 so as to drill a hole 94 in the ball 70 which is at substantially right angles to the through hole 92.

In the operation of the apparatus 10, assume that the frame 44 is in the position shown in FIG. 3, and that a ball 70 has dropped into the opening 62 in the slide plate 14. The cylinder assembly 48 is actuated to move the piston rod 46 toward the body 12 so as to move the frame 44 from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. 2. During such movement, the slide plate 14, at the outwardly flaring upper end portion 64 of the opening 62, engages the ball 70 directly above the ball 70 which is disposed in the opening 62 and moves it upwardly so that it rests on the top side of the plate 14 in the position of the plate 14 shown in FIG.'2.

As soon as the plate 14 reaches the position shown in FIG. 2, the ball 71 in the opening 62 drops into the passage 36 to a rest position on the ball supporting member 56. The cylinder assembly 32 is then actuated to move the piston rod 30 toward the fixed clamp member 72 to a position in which diametrically opposite sides of the ball 70 on the ball supporting member 56 are tightly clamped between the clamp members 28 and 72. A ball 70 is then precisely located in the same position in which subsequent balls 70 will be located, for the hole forming operations. The heads 18 and 22 are then moved in horizontal directions so as to move the drills 16 and 20 along horizontal paths previously described so as to form the through hole 92 in the ball 70 which is at this time securely held by the clamp members 72 and 28. The head 26 is then actuated so as to move the drill 24 into engagement with the ball 70 so as to drill the opening 94 therein. As an alternative, once the ball 70 has been securely clamped between the clamp members 72 and 28, the drill 24 is moved a predetermined distance toward the ball '70 so as to drill the opening 94. The drill 24 is then withdrawn and the drills 16 and 20 are moved horizontally so as to drill the through hole 92 so that it communicates with the previously formed hole 94 in a T configuration.

After all the drills 16, 20 and 24 have been withdrawn from the drilled ball, the cylinder assembly 48 is actuated to withdraw the clamp member 28 to a position in which it is to one side of the passage 36 in the body 12, and the cylinder assembly 43 is then actuated to return the frame 44 to the position shown in FIG. 3. During such movement of the frame 44, the ball supporting member 56 is moved to a position to one side of the passage 36 so that the ball 76 previously supported thereon drops downwardly in the passage 36 through the discharge end 40 thereof into either the conduit 4-2 or a suitable receptacle. The above cycle is then repeated to form holes in the next ball 70 which is at this time the lowermost ball in the stack contained in the tube 66.

As shown in FIG. 9, the fixed clamp member 72, which forms a' drill guide bushing for the drill 24 and the movable clamp member 28, which are aligned and disposed for engagement with diametrically opposite sides of the ball 70, can be located so that the angle between the axis of the drills 16 and 20 and the axis of the drill 24 is an angle other than It can thus be seen that the apparatus 10 of this invention is operable to drill a variety of hole formations in a ball 70 and is not limited to forming a T-shape hole formation such as illustrated in FIG. 7.

I It is also apparent that if only the through hole 92 is desired in a ball 70, the drill 24 may be omitted from a given operation of the apparatus 10'. In actual practice, the drill heads 18, 22 and 26 and the fluid actuated cylinder assemblies 32 and 48 are located with respect to suitable limit switches (not shown) so that the apparatus 10 is moved automatically through the above described cycle.

It will be understood that the apparatus for drilling holes in balls which is herein disclosed and described is presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and is not intended to indicate limits of the invention, the

scope of which is defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is: i

1. In apparatus for forming holes in balls, a body having a passage adapted to receive a ball to be formed with holes, a ball supporting member slidably supported on said body for movement in a direction transversely of said passage between a first position in said passage supporting a ball to be drilled and a second position to one side of said passage, clamp means movable transversely of the direction of movement of said ball supporting member and engageable with diametrically opposite sides of a ball sup: ported on said ball supporting member and disposed in said passage, and axially aligned hole forming members disposed on transversely opposite sides of said passage and positioned for engagement with transversely opposite sides of a ball supported on said ball supporting member.

2. In apparatus for forming holes in balls, means for feeding balls one by one into a hole forming position, said means comprising a body having an upright passage extending therethrough, a ball feeding and positioning frame mounted on said body for reciprocal movement transversely of said passage, said frame having a feeding plate provided with an opening of a size to receive balls to be formed with holes and alignable with the upper end of said passage, means for reciprocating said frame between a first position in which said opening is substantially aligned with the upper end of said passage and a second position in which said opening is to one side of said passage for receiving a ball to be fed to said passage, a ball supporting member on said frame movable into said passage to a position directly below said opening in said first position of said frame for catching a ball dropped into said passage through said opening and to a position to one side of said passage in said second position of said frame for releasing a ball supported thereon, horizontally movable clamp means on said body engageable with a ball supported on said ball supporting member and independent of said ball supporting member, said clamp means being operable to hold a ball member in a fixed position in said passage and a pair of aligned drills engageable with a ball held by said clamp means for forming a hole therethrough.

3. Apparatus for forming holes in balls of a predetermined diameter comprising a body having a top surface and an upright passage extending downwardly from said surface, ball feeding and positioning means including a plate of a thickness greater than said diameter and less than one and a half times said diameter mounted for substantially horizontal reciprocal movement in a plane adjacent said top surface, said plate having an opening therein of a size to receive balls to be formed with holes, ball feeding means operable to present an upwardly extending stack of balls to the top side of said plate, means for reciprocating said plate between a first position in which said opening is below and substantially aligned with the lowest ball in said stack so that said lowest ball will drop into said opening and a second position in which said opening is above said passage so that a ball in said opening will drop into said passage, a ball supporting member mounted for movement with said plate and located so that in said first position of said plate said ball supporting member is to one side of said passage and in said second position of said plate said ball supporting member is disposed in said passage at a position to intercept and support a ball released from said plate for downward travel in said passage, clamp means movable transversely of said passage for engagement with diametrically opposite sides of a ball on said ball supporting member, and hole forming means movable transversely of said passage into engagement with a ball engaged by said clamp means.

4. In apparatus for forming holes in balls, a pair of clamp members engageable with diametrically opposite sides of a ball so as to exert compressive forces on a ball engaged therebetween to retain said ball in a fixed position, a pair of axially aligned drills disposed on diametrically opposite sides of a ball clamped between said clamp members and movable from opposite sides into said ball so as to form a hole therethrough, one of said clamp members having a passage formed therein so as to be in substantial axial alignment with a ball clamped between said clamp members, said passage being located so that the axis thereof intersects the axis of said pair of drills, and a third drill positioned for movement axially of said passage into engagement with a ball clamped between said clamp members for forming a hole therein which intersects said through hole.

5. In apparatus for forming holesin balls, a pair of clamp members engageable with diametrically opposite sides of a ball so as to exert compressive forces on a ball engaged therebetween to retain said ball in a fixed position, a pair of axially aligned drills disposed on diametrically opposite sides of a ball clamped between said clamp members, one of said clamp members having a passage formed therein so as to be in substantial axial alignment with a ball clamped between said clamp members, and a third drill positioned for movement axially of said passage into engagement with a ball clamped between said clamp members.

6. Apparatus for forming holes in balls of a predetermined diameter comprising a body having a top surface and an upright passage extending downwardly from said surface, ball feeding and positioning means including a plate of a thickness greater than said diameter and less than one and a half times said diameter mounted for substantially horizontal reciprocal movement in a plane adjacent said top surface, said plate having an opening therein of a size to receive balls to be formed with holes, ball feeding means operable to present an upwardly extending stack of balls to the top side of said plate, means for reciprocating said plate between a first position in which said opening is below and substantially aligned with the lowest ball in said stack so that said lowest ball will drop into said opening and a second position in which said opening is substatnially aligned with said passage so that a ball in said opening will drop into said passage, 21 ball supporting member mounted for movement with said plate and located so that in said first position thereof said ball supporting member is to one side of said passage and in said second position of said plate said ball supporting member is disposed in said passage at a position to intercept and support a ball released from said plate for downward travel in said passage, a first clamp member mounted on said body and extending into said passage at a position above said ball supporting member, a second clamp member movable transversely of said passage toward said first clamp member for clamping a ball therebetween which is supported on said ball supporting member, and a pair of axially aligned drills movable transversely of said passage into engagement with a ball clamped between said clamp members for forming a hole extending through said ball.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which said first clamp member has an opening extending substantially axially theret-hrough which is positioned on an axis which intersects the axis of said pair of drills, and a third drill positioned for movement through said passage into engagement with a ball clamped between said clamp members for forming a hole therein which intersects a through hole formed by said pair of drills.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 398,378 2/1889 Codling 775.1 2,242,169 5/1941 Birkigt 7721 2,622,488 12/1952 Payne 775.l

FRANCIS S. HUSAR, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN APPARATUS FOR FORMING HOLES IN BALLS, A BODY HAVING A PASSAGE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A BALL TO BE FORMED WITH HOLES, A BALL SUPPORTING MEMBER SLIDABLY SUPPORTED ON SAID BODY FOR MOVEMENT IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSELY OF SAID PASSAGE BETWEEN A FIRST POSITION IN SAID PASSAGE SUPPORTING A BALL TO BE DRILLED AND A SECOND POSITION TO ONE SIDE OF SAID PASSAGE, CLAMP MEANS MOVABLE TRANSVERSELY OF THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID BALL SUPPORTING MEMBER AND ENGAGEABLE WITH DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE SIDES OF A BALL SUPPORTED ON SAID BALL SUPPORTING MEMBER AND DISPOSED IN SAID PASSAGE, AND AXIALLY ALIGNED HOLE FORMING MEMBERS DISPOSED ON TRANSVERSELY OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID PASSAGE AND POSITIONED FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH TRANSVERSELY OPPOSITE SIDES OF A BALL SUPPORTED ON SAID BALL SUPPORTING MEMBER. 